The Canadian Electricity Association's Electricity '96 (April 27 to May 3) was one of the largest industry events of the year.
More than 1,000 delegates, from as far away as China, attended the conference's panel discussions, workshops and exhibitors' showcase.
Held in Montreal, the theme for this year's conference was Serving Our Customers. Changes within the industry mean that all players will have to be more competitive and customer driven. To that end, customer service will become an important part of every day business.
The need for this will only increase as the competition that is being experienced in North America, brought on by industry deregulation, continues to grow.
Other countries have already experienced the growing pains associated with a deregulated market. As the keynote speaker, Ulf Riise, Norwegian Electricity Federation Association of Producers, discussed the Norwegian power industry's response to its government's 1990 decision to create a free market.
He contends the decision was made based on a vague conception that a free market system, usually applied to commodities very different from electricity, would be the best model for the power industry.
The establishment of brokers and traders was the first result of this decision. As a new presence in the industry, their appearance was not popular with traditional participants. Riise said there is little doubt, though, that their quick response to new opportunities had an impact during early stages of the deregulation process.
Brokers negotiate bilateral contracts, physical as well as financial, and take no position in the trade. Traders buy and sell power through bilateral deals and partly by trading on the organized markets; they carry the economic risks involved.
Other changes included the principle of common carriage and third party access for networks at all levels. Suppliers lost their exclusive rights to their franchise area and have become subject to competition. Generation and distribution companies no longer had any supply obligations at a long-term stable price basis. Consumers were given access to a spot market. With the changes, the national grid is now run by Statnett, a state-owned company. The Statnett Power Exchange is the marketplace offering power exchange and clearing standardized contracts.
The control and inspection of the deregulated industry is placed on the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration.
Currently, there are political changes which may again change the industry. The Norwegian parliament is discussing a proposal for taxation of the electricity industry. This could result in a type of taxation which disregards the new competitive role of the producers in a free market.
Some elements of this tax could very effectively stop investments in new hydroelectric stations and plans to refurbish older plants, Riise said. Other elements could force trade away from long-term contracts, harming producers and consumers.
Recent deregulation in neighbouring Sweden has resulted in a contract for system responsibility between grid companies in both countries. Those comapnies will also own and use the Statnett Power Exchange as a common marketplace.
A large number of papers concerning the future course of the industry, and interesting experiences based on past practice, were presented during the conference. The following are some of the many topics that were discussed.
Recent Experience With Turbine Upgrading At Ontario Hydro
By D.C. Kee, M.S. Markovich and R.I. Munro
Ontario Hydro began runner replacements in 1974, and in the course of improving 73 hydro units, it has acquired a great deal of experience.
One area of this experience deals with the importance of recording operating data (head, tailwater level, power and operating hours) during the guarantee period of new runner.
Cavitation pitting guarantees in tendering documents from Ontario Hydro basically follow the guidelines in the IEC publication 609 entitled Cavitation Pitting Evaluation in Hydraulic Turbines, Storage Pumps and Pump-Turbines. The maximum allowable depth of pitting and the maximum area of pitting per runner are taken from diagrams on page 30 of IEC 609. The lower, or most stringent, was used, and the duration of operation is 10,000 hours.
Without proper data recording it is difficult to invoke the liquidated damages clauses tied to the guarantees or to establish if a particular operating point causes excess cavitation pitting.
Ontario Hydro's's experience shows the difficulty in relying on operating data from different sources.
While hourly reading of headwater and tailwater levels were available electronically, the only unit power data available was daily energy generated. To add to the problem, electronic data was on two different sources, not in one file. In order to extract maximum unit power, and the associated headwater and tailwater levels, the work had to be done manually from paper resources.
The lesson of this exercise was to ensure that systems are in place to collect and store relevant operating data. Otherwise, the substantial tasks of manually searching and comparing extensive amounts of data are the only alternative.
A Hydrogen-Fuelled Combustion Turbine Designed For Greater Than 60 Per Cent Higher
Heating Value Efficiency
By Ronald L. Bannister, David J. Huber, Richard A. Newby and John A. Paffenbarger;
Westinghouse Electric Corp.
As part of a Westinghouse-led team, Hydro-Quebec has joined a World Energy Network (WE-NET) program to create a global energy system based on a high efficiency hydrogen-fuelled turbine power plant.
WE-NET was created by the Japanese government's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization. It's multi-phase, 28-year mandate is to develop technology needed to provide high efficiency, environmentally benign power sources.
The planned combustive turbine will provide an energy conversion efficiency (higher heating value or HHV) of greater than 60 per cent with a new power output of 500 mw.
This power plant achieves its efficiency through improvements in the design and materials in turbomachinery and power plant components. First demonstrations of the basic technologies and concepts for the plant will begin by 2002. At that time a pilot plant, about 10-50 mw, will have a greater than 55 per cent HHV thermal efficiency. A full scale demonstration plant is planned to start in 2015.
The demonstration plant will be a greenfield power plant located sea-side. Ambient temperature and pressure should be 15 C (59 F) and 1,013 bar (14.7 psi). Relative humidity should be 60 per cent and 21 C (70 F) sea water must be available for cooling. The hydrogen fuel and oxygen oxidant will be chemically pure and provided as gases at ambient temperature and whatever pressure is needed for injection into the turbine's combustor. It's assumed the hydrogen will be delivered to the site as a cryogenic liquid, but that cryogenic energy will be used to power an air liquefacation unit which in turn will produce pure oxygen.
Many materials and combustion issues must be resolved in order for this plan to become a reality, but those involved believe the WE-NET program and its timetable will be successful.
International Trade In Electricity From The Canadian Perspective
By Ivan Harvie, manager of the Electric Power Division of the National Energy Board of
Canada
The key word for power generators is flexibility. Today's market is more complex than ever before with many new participants. With the 1992 U.S. Energy Policy Act in effect creating PoolCos and regional transmission groups (RTG), Canadian power exporters have had to learn how to react quickly to changing demands in the market.
B.C. Hydro/POWEREX are currently members of the first RTG to achieve approval. Manitoba Hydro is also seeking RTG status together with members of the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool. Most other major exporters are continuing their RTG development with producers in the U.S.
In order obtain greater market flexibility exporters have sought National Energy Board authorization for several initiatives. They include exporting to new or all potential customers within an area and to export over all power line facilities authorized by the board. Power producers have also asked to export to any market, whether directly interconnected or not, under transaction terms and conditions unknown at the time of application. There has also been requests to enter contracts of up to a maximum duration without the need for prior board approval of each contract.
The board has responded to the changing markets by amending its regulatory framework. It has issued "blanket" permits to utilities because the parties, terms or conditions of a contract may not be known at the time of the application. Over 40 export agreements have been filed with the board under these permits.
A concern about the transfer capability of international power lines (and in some cases interprovincial lines when needed to access international lines) has been raised by this activity. There are questions as to whether the board will continue to issue permits once the transfer capability is met. The board's stance is that permits authorize the holder to enter into export transactions and do not grant special rights to the holder.
Currently it's believed that additions and upgrades to international power lines carried out between 1980 and 1992 have more than doubled Canada's export capability.
While Harvie foresees a greatly changed marketplace developing over the next few years, the complexity of the issues to be resolved and the magnitude of the associated costs will mean few significant changes in the immediate future.
Development Of A Real-Time Power System Simulator Based On Off The Shelf Workstation Equipment
By Luis R. Linares, Jose R. Marti and Roberto Rosales, University of British Columbia
Work is currently in progress at the University of British Columbia to build a real-time power system simulator with the flexibility of a scaled-down analog model (TNA) but with the extended system representation capabilities of digital computer modelling.
The goal is to accomplish this for the cost of standard off the shelf workstation equipment.
The simulator, code named Object Virtual Network Integrator (OVNI), is to be continuously running and behave exactly like the actual power system for variations of load and generation conditions as well as simulated contingencies.
There are several other aims for OVNI as well.
It will be a stand alone tool for power system analysis and simulation. The ability to play what-if scenarios while the simulator is running can allow a number of exploratory system studies.
It can be a training tool for power system operators and an educational tool for students. The user can get instantaneous feedback (and, as opposed to the TNA which uses physical components, the user cannot destroy the equipment if he attempts an absurd situation).
OVNI will provide intelligent on-line power system supervision and control. This will allow for supervisory control of power system operation in power system control centres. The simulator is continuously running in parallel with the actual system with information on the load, generation and topological state continuously updated through data gathering (SCADA) and state-emission subsystems. If, according to the system's knowledge base, the power network is entering a dangerous or uneconomical zone, a number of possible corrective actions will be suggested.
None of these actions will be applied directly; rather, they will first be tested in the simulator.
It is also planned to use OVNI for real-time equipment testing. The simulator will run fast enough to meet the bandwidth requirements of physical equipment to be tested. This is the most demanding application of the simulator in terms of execution time.
Life Management Of Uninterruptible Power Supplies
By Ravi Gupta, Ph.D., P.Eng., Design Engineer Specialist, Ontario Hydro and Javaid
Muzaffar, P.Eng., Senior Design Engineer, IE Power Inc.
In an electrical power plant an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) provides a constant source of power for protection, control and safety systems. A UPS system can consist of a battery charger, rectifier, inverter, static transfer switch, maintenance bypass switch and regulating transformer.
Most utilities perform regular surveillance testing to verify the operability and functional capability of their UPS. In power plants there is a need for a uniform set of preventive maintenance and condition monitoring in order to reduce the potential of failure due to aging degradation and to extend the system's service life.
The proper design of the system can minimize preventive maintenance requirements, and testing procedures and equipment should be simple to understand and carry out.
Continued maintenance and a thorough understanding of the system's components can maximize the safe useful life of the UPS. Aging management should include evaluation operation and maintenance history to identify sources of component stress and determine the significance of such aging factors as corrosion, fatigue, wear, electronic drift and thermal aging.
Other factors governing the life expectancy of any UPS are obsolescence and the advancement of technology. In time manufacturers may no longer find servicing older systems is profitable. And new technologies may provide reduced operational and maintenance costs as well as improved reliability and flexibility of operation.
Live-Line Installation Of Wrapped Fibre Optic Cables On The Ground Wire Of Tower
Systems
By Dr. J.C. Baker, Dr. M..J. Redman and S. Clift; Focas Ltd.
Power utilities are facing growing needs for telecommunications for such tasks as the remote monitoring and controlling of substations or for voice and data transfers. The use of fibres optics provides a communication system that is not affected by the presence of electrical interference.
The Skywrap system provides a way to install a small fibre optic cable by wrapping it around the conductor of an overhead power line. Developed over 15 years, the system installs on either the phase or ground wire of many types of lines.
It has installed cable on live systems operating a 400 kv and lower voltage lines, particularly 132 kv.
Installation is accomplished by means of a spinning machine that attaches to the conductor. The forward motion of the machine causes the body to rotate. As it moves the fibre optic cable is wrapped around the conductor with a constant tension regardless of the length of the span, cable diameter or the amount of cable remaining on the drum inside the machine.
Under live line conditions, the machine is pulled by a motorized, radio-controlled tug. Should the cable have to be removed, the process works similarly in the reverse.
In the event of problems with the tug, there is a recovery tug which will propel the stranded machine to the nearest tower.
In order to overcome the problems associated with the use of radio control machinery in such proximity to live transmission lines, a new control system has been created. It uses transceivers operating at UHF (between 400 and 500 MHz). The use of a UHF signal has greatly reduced the risk of interference.
The Strategic Options Process For Reducing Toxics/Heavy Metals Releases From The
Electric Power Sector
By G. Ross, D. Rose, J. Kozak and G. Ternan, Environment Canada
During the last few years the release of toxic substances has come under increasing scrutiny regionally, nationally and internationally. There are a number of separate initiatives including those dealing specifically with electric power generators using fossil fuels.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) provides for the development of a list of substances to be assessed to determine if they are toxic. In 1989 there were 44 substances to be assessed and by 1994 25 of these substances were declared toxic (some substances, such as mercury and lead, had previously been listed as toxic by CEPA).
In 1995 CEPA's federal/provincial advisory committee estimated that, based on a preliminary inventory by Environment Canada, fossil-fuelled generating plants contributed to the release of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead, mercury and inorganic fluoride.
The strategic options process is a consultative mechanism where industry stakeholders are involved from the beginning to examine the problem. The results of these deliberations will be recommendations of specific target reductions, time lines and the best ways to meet these targets.
The process began in April 1995 and a report with recommendations will be submitted by the end of the year to the ministers of the federal departments of environment and health for further decision and action.
Experience With The Development Of A Low Earth Orbiting Satellite Automatic Meter
Reading System
By Joseph H. Seiler P.Eng, Seimac Ltd. and Frederick R. Skillman, Global Metering
Service
Satellite technology may be the future of meter reading in remote areas.
The authors believe the current price for meter reads extends from an average low of about $1 to the extreme figure of $300 per read for truly remote reads; they use the example of a mining operation where it will take one man in a truck a full day to take a reading.
Using low earth orbiting satellites (500 miles above the earth) could be the answer to such hard to reach reads. This technology could also be used by national chains to easily measure energy use at any of their locations.
The advantage of the satellite system is it requires no infrastructure or resources. Say goodbye to poles, towers and the manpower needed for remote reads. Currently there is only one satellite available for this use, but others will come into use during the next few years.
Pioneered by Global Energy Metering Service Inc. of California, trials are underway with a number of utilities including Nova Scotia Power Corporation. Its eight satellite meters, which appear no different than a normal meter, can be read several times each day as the satellite passes overhead.
Use Of Steel Poles For Primary Distribution At York Hydro
By D. Thompson, Distribution Engineer, The Hydro-Electric Commission of the City of York
Steel distribution poles have not yet gained acceptance in Canada despite growing world wide use.
York Hydro has completed a pilot project to install steel poles and has found them to be a viable alternative to traditional wood poles. The potential benefits of longer life (up to 80 years), more consistency, reduced weight and retention of salvage value at life's end will be driving factors in pole material decisions in the years to come. And those factors could drive the market to steel.
A steel pole weighs about half of a similarly rated wood pole and about a fifth of a concrete pole. The lighter poles, therefore, reduce handling costs and risk of injury. They are easier to control which reduces the risk of electrical contact and are cheaper to store.
The poles come with a choice of corrosion protecting coatings. The traditional galvanizing will protect a pole for up to 50 years, or an inorganic zinc silicate coating is available. This coating has been used to protect salt water vessels.
Poles can also be ordered with an optional heat shrink wrap.
Some pole maintenance will be required. As the poles will not weaken internally, visual inspections for corrosion can be easily performed. Any weak area in the coating can be repaired with field touch-up kits.
Because of the coatings, the poles must be handled differently than wood poles. Measures include padded delivery trailers and other padded materials to protect the surface from scratching. As well, the poles cannot be roughly piled or dumped on their sides.
York Hydro's experience with the poles is in its infancy. It has installed about 70 poles and found that working methods have had to face minor adjustments, but there is every indication that in time the steel pole will become the basic construction standard for York Hydro.
For now, as experience is gained, the poles will be used for special applications.
Mass Market Metering Strategic Planning At Hydro-Quebec
by Jean Joly and Laurent Pilotto, Hydro-Quebec
Seeking the next evolutionary step in metering has been an ongoing project at Hydro-Quebec.
With customers looking for value-added and personalized services, and utilities wanting to reduce costs, smart meters look to be the way of the future.
In 1991 Hydro-Quebec began a pilot project using automatic meter reading (AMR) via telephone lines for 60,000 customers. The year-long trial revealed a number of obstacles to overcome. Communications costs in rural areas were more expensive than planned, breakdowns occurred, there were problems when sharing the customer's phone line and in some cases there was no access to phone lines.
During the same time 500 customers were metered using radio frequency technology. The results were promising, but Hydro-Quebec wanted to undertake a strategic planning exercise before committing to any one system.
It was determined that rapid changes in telecommunications could offer greater flexibility and better meet the customer's needs. AMR will continue for about 160,000 hard to read customers, but the future of AMR will be with multi-functional meters. Ideally these meters will have no physical link and low installation costs.
Hydro-Quebec believes the future challenge will be the integration of the system. Most of the components already exist, but they just need to be implemented properly and take full advantage of the rapid changes in telecommunications.
B.C. Hydro's New Value-Added Customer Service: The Building Check-Up Program
By Gifford Jung and Lori Herman, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority and
Curt Hepting, EnerSys Analytics Inc.
The Building Check-Up (BCU) program provides a package of services and allows customers to choose those which fit their individual situations and needs. The program's services range from basic billing information to detailed end use analysis which includes a walk-through energy audit, hourly energy analysis, bill calibration, energy efficiency screening and reporting.
During the pilot phase, customers who owned and/or managed high- and low-rise office buildings, large retail and grocery stores, elementary and secondary schools were eligible. At first eight customers were selected for a free test phase. After initial customer response was evaluated, 200 customers were charged $500 for the service (the cost covered the expenses of this revenue neutral program).
The BCU program is still in its early stages. Customer response has been favorable which helps further B.C. Hydro's customer service and marketing goals. Owners of buildings not targeted by the program, such as warehouses and hotels, have also expressed interest in participating.
Another benefit for B.C. Hydro is the end-use energy analysis service acts as a mechanism to aid load research and new building design.